I bet Gerald Ford's passing will be much more respectfully received here

[bluestateguy]

Gerald Ford's passing will probably be next, and I have a feeling these boards will be mostly full of praise for him. He was first and foremost a man of integrity and character who sacrificed his political career to pardon Richard Nixon and spare the nation more Watergate fallout. He also represents an era of sanity in the Republican Party, before the fundamentalist wackos and neo-cons took over. Just a thought.

[NavajoRug]

1. Ford has one huge knock against him . . .

He was never elected to either office he held (VP, then President). This -- along with the fact that he only served for two years or so -- will forever leave him with an asterisk next to his name in the history books.

[Walt Starr]

2. Absolutely

no reason to piss on his grave just because he was the onlyh man never elected to the job and was Trick Dick's out.

I mean, seriously, the guy fell on his sword for Trick Dick.

[saracat]

11. He is no longer

the only man never elected to the job!

[Walt Starr]

16. True!

But Bush was "legally" Selected by a vote of 5-4.

[LTR]

3. I doubt anyone here really hates him

The GOP was less polarizing in those days.

[ikojo]

4. Gerald Ford did not alienate Americans the way RR and W

have.

[ibegurpard]

5. I cannot imagine summoning the disdain I have for Reagan

in the case of Ford.

[mopaul]

6. i got not prob with ford

he didn't start any wars based on lies, and he didnt' kill thousands and i don't want to pee on him

[rooboy]

7. Wasn't Ford the US president who gave Indonesia the go-ahead...

to invade East Timor? About a quarter of a million dead from that one.

[mopaul]

12. checking data...............

thanks rooboy, i don't wanna say anything nice about him if i don't have to. and i'll always be mad at him for being on the phony warren commission.

i'll do some reading

[doni_georgia]

26. mopaul - check out "Lost Honor" by John Dean

Dean's follow-up to "Blind Ambition" went under with barely a ripple, but it was a remarkable book in its own right. Among other things, he made an extremely strong case that Alexander Haig was "Deep Throat."
However, he also mentioned a scandal brewing under the surface that would have erupted full force had Ford defeated Carter in the 1976 election. Very likely he would have faced impeachment as well. So Carter's first role in history is that in fact he may well have prevented the words "President Dole" from ever being uttered excecpt in sardonic jest.

Mac in Ga (Doni's husband)

[Solly Mack]

45. Yes. Ford and Kissenger. They met with President Suharto

and more or less told him to go for it....but only after they had left. Indonesia was using military equipment supplied by the US but given for use to defend (under US Law)...not invade... Kissenger told Suharto that his invasion could be construed as self-defense.

Ford/ Kissenger were coming back from Beijing, stopped off to talk with Suharto. The invasion took place the next day.

and as has been mentioned, Ford is the lone survivor of the warren commission...and ford did change the wording of the report before it was released..ford also says he stands by the change.....the change dealth with actual placement of bullet entry. ford claims he was clarifying..trying to be more precise about just where the bullet entered...there are those who say the edit was made solely to support the single bullet theory (through kennedy to connally) ...which adds up to support the findings of a lone gunman.

[Cleita]

8. Seems to me that neither he nor Betty really belonged in

the "fat greedy white men and their trophy wives" party.

[crossroads]

55. I see him in purgatory, where Reagan is in hell...

:eyes:

[devinsgram]

9. There was something about

him that was really likable. I would definetly have kind words for him.

[mopaul]

13. he made me laugh with his klutziness......................n/t

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

10. Dont forget Reagan ran against Ford in the GOP primaries.

Reagan was part of that right wing takeover of the GOP, and the run against Ford was part of this....

[mopaul]

14. he was one of them,,,.....but i ain't gonna pee on him...........n/t

[Zomby Woof]

15. he elicits boredom and indifference

His lackluster presidency brought us the Swine Flu fiasco (people dying from the shots, and so forth), those stupid and wasteful WIN buttons, bad golf, a bad recession (1975's was the worst post WW2 one until Reagan's in 1982), and 2 assassination attempts (one by a member of the Manson family, those were the days).

Yawn. But I am sure there will be SOME flame wars, about whether he should have pardoned Nixon or not.

What will be really interesting is to see if anyone defends Bush sr when his parachute fails to open on his upcoming birthday...

[LTR]

18. I see this place getting pretty ugly...

...when GHWB kicks.

[Philostopher]

54. Yeah, I wonder how ol' Squeaky Fromme is doing these days?

Talk about a career decision!

I suggested earlier, vis a vis the GHW parachute event -- perhaps we can get W* to jump right beside his daddy, and we can let him pack his own chute.

[stevedeshazer]

17. Are you guys nuts? HELLO!

HELLO: Henry Kissinger, Salvador Allende and Augusto Pinochet and the CIA, East Timor, the pardoning of Nixon, Whip Inflation Now!, Sukarno, the extermination of 250,000 human beings.

Guess who his Secretary of Defense was? Here's a hint:



I don't mean to be harsh, but I ask you all to READ YOUR HISTORY.

Gerald is not the nice guy everyone here makes him out to be.

[mopaul]

19. i only have so much urine

but yes, in my rage, i'd forgotten some of your finer points of history. thank you mr. stevie d

[lapfog_1]

22. Yeah, but of the last 5 repug presidents

he STILL has to be the least offensive.

[stevedeshazer]

25. Yeah, he only killed 250,000 people,

and he only overthrew one democratically elected government in his two and a half years in office..

We should praise him.

I'm least offensive!

I'm least offensive!

I'm least offensive!

[lapfog_1]

56. OK, without even consulting history books

Nixon - Vietnam, Cambodia. millions dead.

Reagan - Central America, Iran / Iraq war, Saddam - millions dead.

Bush I - more central America, Gulf War I - 1000s dead, maybe 100Ks

Shrub - Iraq, Afghanistan - 10Ks dead.

And by some of the same logic...

Clinton - failed to stop Rwanda genocide - 100Ks dead.

So, bad things happen in the world, some because the president of
the US either directed or encouraged it. Many because the president
didn't do enough (or anything) to stop it. I tend to hold those
that initiated action that caused the suffering more accountable than
those that didn't do enough to stop it.

Therefore, of the last 5 Repug presidents, Ford is the least
objectionable. Not that I'm defending him. I will always hold
it against him that he pardoned Nixon. But Ford is not a paranoid
crook like Nixon, nor a BFEE like either Bush, or a wingnut like
Reagan. So when Ford passes on, I don't expect to see a bunch of
threads here (or week long freeper madness from the other side)
about the guy. Hopefully, we will just bury him and get on with
our lives.

[punpirate]

27. Not to mention that while in the House...

... he was the right wing's attack dog. I can't remember the number of times he introduced impeachment bills against William O. Douglas, but it was more than once or twice.

The recent Kissinger tape transcripts also indicate that Ford was well aware that the selection of a VP to replace Agnew had a quid pro quo attached--the person selected would have to be willing to pardon Nixon if it came to that. Acting on that sort of foreknowledge was not particularly honorable.

[stevedeshazer]

36. Thanks for remembering that one

William O. Douglas was a great American.

And we ALL knew Ford would pardon Nixon. Ford was given a pass...at the time, it was worth it to have what we thought was a surgically neutered president in exchange for getting Nixon out.

Unfortunately, the surgery was unsuccessful.

No love here for Oatmeal Man.

Remember Gil Scott-Heron's rap:

The revolution will no be televised
You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.
There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.
Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.
There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdinck, or Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be right back
after a message about a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.
The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.

[Jade Fox]

20. I've read that the reason Ford was picked to replace Agnew....

and by proxie Nixon, is that he was known to be a very honest man.
Not maybe the brightest bulb in the lamp, but the GOP could trust
him not to have any nasty skeletons in his closet. Yeah, from our
current vantage point he looks down right appealing.

[LTR]

21. He was a compromise

Nixon trotted out quite a few potential VPs (Including John Connelly). There were a few others, but they were stiffs.

Ford was the one everyone could agree on.

[stevedeshazer]

31. The OTHERS were stiffs?!

They must have really looked hard!

Actual quote: Things are more like they are now than they have ever been.
- President Gerald Ford

[LTR]

33. You preferred Spiro Agnew?

Nixon had no taste.

[stevedeshazer]

37. Agnew had already been forced to resign

Who do you mean? John Connally and who else?

[LTR]

38. This guy

And I know Agnew had resigned. Do you think he would have made a better president if he was able to stay on?

[stevedeshazer]

41. Guess we'll never know.

I didn't understand that you were trying to make the point that Agnew would have been president upon Nixon's resignation. Now I see what you mean.

In the spirit of politics in America, then and now, I concede that an Agnew presidency may have resulted in more deaths and more corruption than Ford. I guess.

I don't remember Reagan having been a name tossed about as VP then, but I'll take your word for it. :)

[LTR]

42. Here's a source

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Spiro_Agnew

The other top choice was Nelson Rockefeller, who would have been a decent choice, but I doubt the Pugs would have liked that. Rockefeller eventually became Ford's VP, but cast aside for Bob Dull...er Dole.

[stevedeshazer]

44. Rocky and Bob

Now THAT I remember!

[gumby]

23. Vanity post

At a convention in a land long ago and far, far away, Gerald Ford broke his stride and singled me out to interact with.

At that moment, young as I was, I instantly realized (as Kissinger might say) the opiate of Power. The "Fall-Down-Guy" and his gorgeous Secret Service men wowed me with their mere presence.

That's something I'll never forget .... for many reasons.

[maveric]

24. I wish that he would "fess up" about the Warren Commision before he goes.

He's the last living member of that bullshit commission and he knows the truth about the JFK assasination.
Come clean Gerry. Good things will happen in heaven for the real truth.

[LTR]

28. Arlen Specter is still around

But I think he was just the guy who fetched coffee.

[FDRrocks]

39. He came up with the magic bullet theory...

if I'm not mistaken.

[gumby]

46. Arlen

He not only fetched the coffee, he strained his brain to come up with the "magic bullet theory." Funny how some people's coffee fetching lands them in the Senate year after year after year?

[cally]

29. I like and respect Ford

He did offer sanity after the Nixon trauma. Ford's an honest, decent man.

[JohnLocke]

30. Of course his will (nt).

[susanna]

32. I just watched him on Larry King...

(Glutton for punishment? You decide.)

I agree with your points, that he was the classiest of the Republican presidents I've known (I was born when LBJ was in office, but first recognized 'The President' as an entity during Nixon's term). I remember watching Nixon's resignation speech as a young child. My father said, "the President did a very bad thing for a man who leads a free country." I remember that statement clearly - bizarre, huh?

Anyway, I thought Gerald Ford did the best he could in re-stabilizing the country. I certainly wasn't well-versed on his policies or anything else, but I remember sensing deeply that this country needed to believe in its leaders once again, and that he was trying very hard to undo the damage wrought by Nixon's betrayal of trust.

I also agree w/ the takeover of the GOP by religious zealots. Ford still represents, to me, the Republican party of old. Reason and logic (Idealism? What's that?), and frank, yet civil debate. I respect Ford as the last of that type, I guess. If I am wrong, well, I'm sure I'll be told.

[librechik]

34. Like Bushie, Ford had no voter mandate

unlike Bushie he was honorable enough not to abuse his power by pretending he did.

[Lefty48197]

35. No doubt about it. Come to think of it we could use a Gerry Ford right now

I mean, the way he bailed out a failing Presidency and all...

[playahata1]

40. The ONLY problem I have with Jerry

is that HE PARDONED NIXON.

Other than that, he is A-OK with me.

[fortyfeetunder]

50. I forgave him for pardoning Nixon

At the time, was livid, but with age, I can understand the rationale. Ford was only trying to heal a wounded nation.

[FredScuttle]

43. delete

n/t

[EndElectoral]

47. Spared a nation? Gimme a break

The man pardoned a person who had not yet been convicted of a crime. Therefore, he obstructed an on-going investigation to get at the truth of one the most egregious uses of the presidency until Iran Contra and Ronald Reagan.

I mean I don't get it.

Nixon=Watergate
Ford=Pardons Nixon
Reagan-Arms to Ayatollah Khomenie, bypassing Congress and Iran Contra
and Bin Laden and Hussein support
Bush I=the father of the Bush II
Bush II=There's not enough text to list for him

And we are supposed to just roll over and say , well Ford wasn't as bad as the rest. He was bad. I'll never forgive him for preventing Nixon from getting his due.

[Cheswick2.0]

48. I bet you are right

Ford is way less offensive than Reagan.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

49. I can respect him.

He's not perfect but he did the best that he could, plus he ended the Vietnam War and made good attempts to heal the nation after Nixon.

He's pro-enviroment and a modertate.

[seabeyond]

51. hey his classiest

falling down the stairs, and.............the self humor he had. that, i had a lot of respect for, liked him every since. was young though, and dont know what he did small time he was in office and other than letting nixon off, which i didnt care.

[crossroads]

52. I view Ford with neutrality, Reagan with a negative passion...

Ford did not commit the atrocities Reagan did, IMO!
:kick:

[politicaljunkie3]

53. Ford's decent IMO.

He had a lot of crap to clean up.

[Gore1FL]

57. I wouldn't count on it

The Retro Reagan hatred is overwhelming. If Ford dies, there will be someone who starts somethingup about pardoning Nixon and it will spiral out of control.

[murielm99]

58. If any of you have read The Price of Loyalty,

remember that O'Neill respected Ford, respected his intelligence, and his decision-making processes.

Granted O'Neill is a repuke, but he was not required to say nice things about Ford for the Susskind book.

I was a Watergate junkie. I loathed Nixon, but was relieved to see him pardoned. It was out of respect for the office, not for Nixon. And, I thought we had been through enough. We did not need to look any more like a banana republic than we already did.

Funny thing: I don't feel that way about Bush*. They can put him in jail as far as I am concerned.

I found Ford's Presidency a relief, after Nixon. He was a loyal man. He did what he was asked to do, for his party and his country. Of course he did things we can criticize. I did not vote for him, would never have voted for him, but I respect him.

[fujiyama]

59. While he wasn't perfect

his policies didn't have the sense of absolute disdain for minorities and the less fortunate that Reagan's and Bush's policies have had. He also was a moderate and even took the side of UM over the affirmative action case.

He had his problems -- Indonesia and Chile are the two biggest probably. I'm still out on his pardoning of Nixon. Many people think it was a good idea, but I'm not exactly how it was necessarily. If the president commits a crime as major as Nixon did...it seems fit that he should face the punishment.

However, I don't necesarily blame Ford for doing what he did and I understand his rationale...as he said, "Our long national nightmare is now over". So, I'm not going to attack him too much for that.